Noble (NYSE:NE) Hits New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE:NE) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $50.99 and last traded at $50.0470, with a volume of 71917 shares. The stock had previously closed at $49.81.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Noble from $33.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Evercore set a $45.00 target price on Noble in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Susquehanna upped their target price on Noble from $32.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Zacks Research raised Noble from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Barclays downgraded Noble from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $36.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.63.

Noble Stock Up 0.0%

The company has a market cap of $7.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.75 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $42.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $34.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.67.

Noble (NYSE:NE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $764.41 million for the quarter. Noble had a net margin of 6.60% and a return on equity of 2.34%. Noble’s revenue was down 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.56 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Noble Corporation PLC will post 2.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Noble Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 4th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Noble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 148.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Noble news, SVP Jennie Howard sold 6,094 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.00, for a total value of $255,948.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 18,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $762,804. The trade was a 25.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Blake Denton sold 23,255 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.50, for a total transaction of $1,011,592.50. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 79,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,447,853.50. The trade was a 22.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 328,805 shares of company stock worth $15,067,754 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Noble

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NE. Strs Ohio purchased a new position in Noble in the 1st quarter worth approximately $142,000. Systematic Financial Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Noble by 0.8% in the second quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 540,535 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,351,000 after purchasing an additional 4,435 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Noble by 819.1% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,601 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 2,318 shares during the period. Hara Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Noble by 4.9% in the second quarter. Hara Capital LLC now owns 194,482 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,163,000 after buying an additional 9,116 shares during the period. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors bought a new stake in Noble during the 2nd quarter valued at $359,000. 68.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Noble Company Profile

Noble (NYSE: NE) is an offshore drilling company that provides drilling services to the global oil and gas industry. The firm operates a fleet of mobile offshore drilling units and delivers contract drilling solutions for exploration and production activities. Its core business centers on executing drilling programs for upstream energy companies across a range of water depths and operating environments.

Products and services include the operation and management of offshore drilling rigs — such as drillships, semisubmersibles and jackups — along with associated technical, engineering and project management services.